Unlike many of his fellow Monty Python-ites, who were educated at Cambridge, actor/writer/director Terry Jones attended Cambridge's arch-rival Oxford, where he worked with the Experimental Theatre Club. Upon his graduation, Jones was hired as a BBC staff writer. From 1969 to 1972, he was one of the comedy conspirators on the internationally popular Monty Python's Flying Circus, remaining with the Python crowd through several theatrical films, serving as director on Monty Python's the Life of Brian (1979) and Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983). On his own, he wrote and performed in the TV series Secrets, Ripping Yarns and So This is Progress. Terry Jones' non-Python film directorial efforts include Personal Services (1987) and Erik the Viking (1989, based on his own 1984 novel); he also wrote the screenplay for Labyrinth (1986) and adapted his stage play Consuming Passions for the screen in 1988.